This townhome on Clubhouse Drive sold for $1,450,000 on Thursday.

There were eight sales in the past week (July 24-30) totaling $3,365,000. Topping the list was the luxury townhome offered by Jeremy MacGray and Charles Feldmann. The 4,500-square-foot unit on Clubhouse Drive went for $1,450,000.

Also sold this week was the Kum & Go convenience store and restaurant on Highway 131 in Yampa. The store sold for $480,000.

There were three timeshare transactions this week totaling $75,500. For all the sales this week (and all the sales in 2009) click here.

Sales of homes in Routt County in June totaled 36. Of the total, 22 were priced below $500,000.
There were also nine home sales priced greater than $1 million. That brings the million-plus unit volume to 26 in the first six months of 2009.

The Steamboat boat mountain area accounted for 17 of 67 transactions in June.
The total as reported by Bruce Cart of Land Title Guarantee Company includes 14 timeshare sales.
Hayden and the surrounding area perked up a little bit, logging six sales for an aggregate value of $1.02 million.
Stagecoach saw five sales for a combined $1.78 million and an average residential price per square foot of $255.50.

The owners of the Fairfield Inn on U.S. Highway 40 in Steamboat Springs have entered the city planning process to seek permission to add 23 rooms to the 65-room property.
Bobby Amin, principal in Steamboat Hotels Inc., would like to build a third-story addition on the east wing of the building where it would have little visual impact on passing motorists.
Amin’s plans visualize five new guest rooms on the first floor and nine rooms on the second and third floors. The addition would comprise almost 13,000 square feet.

Cara Froedge of the Jackson Hole News and Guide reports that the mid-point of 2009 marks the first time since 2006 that a majority of the homes sold in the greater Jackson, Wyo., area were priced below $1 million.

Of the 42 single-family homes sold, 48 percent sold for more than $1 million. Froedge cited a report by Jackson Realtor David Viehman and his daughter, Devon. “This is the first time since 2005 we’ve had inventory in this price range,” the Viehmans reported. “At this time in 2008, the least expensive home was $635,000.”

Routt County Public Trustee Jeanne Whiddon confirms the number of requests to begin foreclosure proceedings submitted to her office in 2009 has reached 96. That compares to 72 as of the third week in June.
Whiddon said the rate at which foreclosures are being filed here is growing and is on pace to see as many as 140 foreclosure proceedings begun by year’s end.
Not all foreclosure filings result in people losing their property.

Vail Daily Business Editor Scott Miller reported July 27 that high-nd lodging properties in the Vail Valley have taken on a paradigm shift when it comes to discounting room rates – breaking with a longstanding trend, they’re already offering discounts over December holidays.
Miller’s story follows:

The lodging business in Colorado’s Vail Valley has long offered its best rates at the last minute. Some local lodges are trying to change that model.
The Westin Riverwalk Resort & Spa in Avon recently made a splash with a “Christmas in July” promotion that knocks half off the hotels standard room rates from Nov. 20 through Dec. 25.
The Antlers Lodge in Vail is running its own special: Through Oct. 1, people booking a room for a five-day stay get another 30 percent off an already-discounted rate.
“We’re absolutely going to tell people who call after Oct. 1 they could have had a better rate if they’d booked earlier,” Antlers general manager Rob LeVine said.
In fact, the Antlers is promising people who book now that they’re getting the best rates for the days they book. If the rate goes lower, early-bookers get that rate.
Last-minute bookings were more prevalent than ever last ski season, due largely to a slumping economy. While overall reservations fell, there was more activity than ever at the Vail on Sale Web site, the Vail Valley Partnership’s site for last-minute deals.
While last-minute trend really caught on last season, people in the lodging business have long been concerned that last-minute deals are something of an insult to loyal customers who pay full rate when they book early.
Early-booking specials “reinforce to your most loyal customers that it’s good to book earlier,” Vail Valley Partnership Sales and Marketing Director Chris Romer said. “And it’s good for everybody.”
Having early reservations on the books helps hotels as they’re planning everything from staff scheduling to food and laundry orders, Romer said. And requiring multi-day stays to get the specials puts people in town — and, presumably, into shops and restaurants — on weekdays, not just weekends.
Managers at the Westin are already pretty happy with the Christmas in July promotion.
“It’s quite successful,” hotel spokeswoman Julie Dunn said. “We’ve booked a significant number of rooms.”
Besides getting a public relations splash in traditional media, the Westin has also put out the word about the winter specials to its Facebook friends and Twitter followers.

Charles McMillan, president of the National Association of Realtors reacted today to the news that the U.S. government is reconsidering changes in appraisal rules that were intended to restore impartiality to real estate proposals, but have had the unintended consequence of killing some pending home sales.
“NAR and our 1.2 million members are pleased that the Federal Housing Finance Agency has instructed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to take action to clarify confusion over the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct for home appraisers implemented this past May,” McMillan said.
“Our members were experiencing delayed and lost sales because of poor appraisals conducted often by inexperienced appraisers who were not familiar with the area. The ramifications were so great to our members and to the housing industry that I personally met with the New York Attorney General’s office and with the head of the FHFA to share our concerns.
“In those meetings I shared an NAR survey that found 76 percent of our members, representing both buyers and sellers, had experienced an increase in appraisal time since the new HVCC rules were enacted. Similarly, 71 percent of Realtors noted an increase in the use of appraisers who were not from the local area. These factors often adversely affected the sale or the sales process, which occasionally resulted in the loss of a sale or a homeowner’s inability to refinance into today’s lower rates. I expressed our serious concern in the meetings.
Real estate appraisers in Steamboat springs have lamented the disruption the new regulations have imposed on the system.
“We took this information, and our concerns, to those organizations responsible for the changes and we are pleased that they listened. Today Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued clear guidance on two very important points that we raised in our meetings. First, the guidance states that lenders should use appraisers who have clear experience in the geographic area. Second, it clarifies that appraisers are not prohibited from talking to real estate agents.
“NAR has asked Congress and the FHFA to immediately implement an 18-month moratorium on the new HVCC rules to further address unintended consequences of this new rule. We will continue to push for this, but are pleased that this first step was taken today.”

Dave Hartley, a broker/owner at Colorado Group Realty reports he spent a part of July 23 showing a high-net-worth individual Routt County ranch properties of 150 acres or more. He said his client already owns a ranch in Texas and seeks a Steamboat ranch to enjoy, but also as a place to park cash and hold as an investment.
In general Harley said, showings have picked up dramatically in the last two weeks. He helped a first-time home buyer make a purchase and take advantage of federal tax rebates.
Hartley said he has also helped Front Range buyers acquire Steamboat Grand intervals. A trend within that trend, he said, is existing Steamboat Grand owners upgrading to intervals in larger units.

Silverthorne has a Target big box store and Eagle County has a Home Depot hardware and building supplies store. Now, both of the mountain communities within 100 miles of Steamboat are on track to get the national retailer they are missing.
Steamboat residents traveling to Denver for sports and cultural events already drive by a Target and a slew of factory outlets stores in Silverthorne.
Caitlin Rowe of the Summit Daily Journal reports that the Silverthorne Town Council is considering a permit for a 100,000 square-foot Home Depot south of Interstate 70 near the outlet stores at the base of Dillon Dam.
The town Council approved a preliminary site plan and wetlands disturbance plan for the store in April.
Edward Stoner of the Vail Daily reports government leaders and citizens in the Town of Eagle are weighing a proposal to make a Target store the anchor in the $346 million Eagle River Station being planned for a pasture east of town.
Eagle River is proposing more than 550,000 square feet of retail, 581 homes and a hotel on 88 acres. The project would require a new highway interchange on I-70.
Proponents say it would raise much-needed sales tax revenues, detractors of the plan say it would undermine the small-town character that residents value.